Patriot complex in Ukraine damaged?

HANH NGUYEN

CNN quoted a US official as saying that the Patriot air defense system in Ukraine may have been damaged but not destroyed, after Russia's missile attack on the capital Kiev on May 16.

US Patriot system. Photo: ZUMA Press

The official said the US was assessing the extent of the damage to the Patriot battery, which would determine whether Ukrainian forces should withdraw completely or repair the system on the ground. Another US official said the Russian attack may have hit a component of the Patriot battery.

The comments came hours after the Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow had used a Kinzhal hypersonic missile to destroy a Patriot air defense missile site in Kiev in an attack early on May 16. Kiev is protected by at least two Patriot batteries, the only Ukrainian air defense system capable of countering hypersonic weapons.

According to General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Army, Russia launched 6 Kinzhal missiles from MiG-31K fighters, 9 Kalibr cruise missiles from warships in the Black Sea, 3 Iskander ballistic missiles, 6 Shahed-136/131 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and many reconnaissance and suicide UAVs in the attack on Kiev that lasted less than an hour. The Ukrainian army announced that it shot down all 18 Russian missiles.

However, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu insisted that his country did not launch as many Kinzhal missiles as Ukraine claimed to have shot down. Meanwhile, General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, stressed that the massive missile attack on Kiev on May 16 was carried out to overload Ukraine's air defense systems by having to fire continuously to respond.

When the Patriot and Ukrainian short-range systems have almost exhausted their ammunition, the Kinzhal missile will perform its most important task: to attack the most expensive air defense site in Kiev. A source told RIA Novosti that the MiG-31K fighter carrying the Kinzhal missile “ambushed” the Patriot complex. “When ambushed like that, due to the Kinzhal’s excessive speed, the US air defense system was completely surprised and unable to defend itself,” the source said.

Social media videos show what is believed to be a Ukrainian Patriot battery firing 30 missiles in two minutes to counter a Russian airstrike. However, after the volley was fired, a large flash of fire erupted at the air defense site, apparently caused by a Russian missile hitting it.

This is the first time Russia has announced the destruction of a Patriot system that the US manufactured and transferred to Ukraine. If confirmed, this would be a huge loss for Ukraine's air defense network, because the Patriot, worth more than 1.1 billion USD, was expected to become a weapon that could significantly change the situation in the sky of this country.

Patriot has six main components including power station, radar, command post, antenna, launcher and interceptor missile. Unlike the short-range air defense systems that the US has transferred to Ukraine, Patriot is less mobile, allowing Russian forces time to aim at the target. Patriot missile shield has a powerful radar capable of detecting targets flying from a long distance. However, the radar signal emitted to detect the target also helps the enemy determine the location of Patriot. The US believes that Russia has received the signal emitted by the Patriot system, then used the Kinzhal hypersonic missile to attack.

Conflicting information about the Kinzhal shootdown

In fact, Russia has recently stepped up targeting Patriot systems with Kinzhal, including a May 4 strike in which Ukraine insisted Patriots were used to intercept missiles.

However, TASS news agency quoted a source in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that the Kinzhal shootdown was fake news, arguing that the missile's speed far exceeded the Patriot's maximum attack modes. "Moreover, the Kinzhal's anti-missile maneuverability during the final part of its flight and its almost straight-line angle towards the target exclude the possibility of its being intercepted by surface-to-air missile systems," the source said.
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Meanwhile, two US officials said the May 4 strike failed because Ukrainian forces used Patriots to destroy the missile before it hit the system. After Russia launched the Kinzhal missile, Patriots fired multiple missiles at different angles and intercepted the target.

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